Tony Dungy shares a long hug with Mike Alstott after his Buccaneer Ring of Honor induction ceremony. "Mike and I came here together," Dungy said. "I just told him how proud I was of not just him but the whole group...what you see here, the people in the red and pewter, fired up about the Bucs — they made that happen."
Quote of the night: Mike Evans said Ryan Fitzpatrick turned to him at halftime (when they were down 20 points) and said, "For some odd reason I love f——— football. I love it." Evans told him, "Yeah, I'm with you. I love it too."
Instead of panicking over a winless start through two games, Pittsburgh quelled the concerns by earning its first win of the 2018 season.
Bucs QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, whose "FitzMagic" was the talk of the NFL the first two weeks, struggled early with three first-half interceptions Monday night but still managed to engineer a late rally that came up just short in a 30-27 loss to Pittsburgh.
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 30-27 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
Ryan Fitzpatrick's comeback attempt falls short as the Bucs fall to the Steelers 30-27. He rallied them back from a 30-10 deficit, but those three interceptions in the second quarter may give pause to a Bucs brass thinking of giving him the reins for another week. To be fair though, this offense hasn't seen that kind of pressure yet (players alluded to this when I spoke with them in the locker room) and he did make some nice throws on those touchdowns to Chris Godwin and Mike Evans.
Most fantasy points by a QB through his team's first three games (since 1950): 97.4 Ryan Fitzpatrick, 2018 TB 92.4 Patrick Mahomes, 2018 KC 91.0 Peyton Manning, 2013 DEN 89.7 Drew Brees, 2018 NO 88.8 Steve Young, 1998 SF
Ryan Fitzpatrick is now over 25 PPR fantasy points, so he's the 16th player (since 1950) to score at least that many in each of his team's first three games of the season. He joins Steve Young (1998), Donovan McNabb (2004) and Patrick Mahomes (2018) as the only QBs to do it.
With that diving touchdown catch, Mike Evans is now the Buccaneers' new all-time leader in touchdown catches with 35. That's a record that Jimmie Giles held since 1986.
Squad goals...Tony Dungy with his fellow Buccaneer Ring of Honor members (four of them pictured are former players of his).
A special moment between Mike Alstott and Tony Dungy following Dungy's Buccaneer Ring of Honor ceremony. Dungy said Alstott told him, "We did it for you."
Tony Dungy was joined by his family and tons of former players on the field for his Buccaneer Ring of Honor induction ceremony at halftime of Monday Night Football. I don't think a single fan on either side left their seat.
Bucs safety Isaiah Johnson has gone to the locker room to be evaluated for a shoulder injury.
Safety Chris Conte aggravated his knee injury and is out for the remainder of the game. He told me earlier this week that he was going to try to play through it with a brace. Also, safety Isaiah Johnson just collided with the wall in the back of the end zone running full speed. He's finally gotten up though. Rookie Jordan Whitehead, who's from Aliquippa, right outside Pittsburgh, is in for him.
With his first quarter touchdown pass to Cameron Brate, Ryan Fitzpatrick has now thrown nine touchdowns in 2018 — the most-ever by a Bucs quarterback through three games.
| TEAM | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 102 | 91 |
| New Orleans | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 104 | 103 |
| Carolina | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 71 | 60 |
| Atlanta | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 | 80 | 85 |
| RD(PK) | PLAYER | POS | SCHOOL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1(12) | Vita Vea | DT | Washington |
| 2(6) | Ronald Jones II | RB | USC |
| 2(21) | M.J. Stewart | CB | North Carolina |
| 2(31) | Carlton Davis | CB | Auburn |
| 3(30) | Alex Cappa | OT | Humboldt State |
| 4(17) | Jordan Whitehead | S | Pittsburgh |
| 5(7) | Justin Watson | WR | Pennsylvania |
| 6(28) | Jack Cichy | ILB | Wisconsin |
